HM Revenue and Customs boss says £20,000 bonus (on top of £185,000
salary) was not a result of error that saw tax revenues exaggerated

The Chief Executive of HMRC has said she “deserved” a bonus worth up to £20,000 last year, despite overseeing a £1.9 billion error that saw officials overstating the amount of extra revenue they were collecting.

Lin Homer said she should keep on to a bonus worth between £15,000-£20,000, saying it reflected “a very good performance”. It came on top of a £185,000 salary. She received the same bonus last year.

Four other executives earning more than £120,000 took home bonuses worth between £5,000 and £15,000, according to the latest HMRC accounts.

They were Jim Harra, the director general of business tax; Nick Lodge, the director general of benefits and credits; Jennie Grainger, the director general of enforcement and compliance; and Ruth Owen, the director general of personal tax.

The executive bonus pool of up to £70,000 was higher than last year's of £55,000.

It was despite HMRC admitting it had set a target for tax collection too low, meaning officials claimed to have over-shot their goal by £2 billion, when in fact the increase was merely £100 million. MPs said the public had been “misled” by the “worrying” mistake.

Related Articles

“We have tried to make sure we are rewarding a very good performance from a number of people,” she told the Commons Public Accounts Committee.

“I’m confident the bonuses that were given out were deserved. I don’t feel that anything we’ve explained to you has warranted any review of that.”

It comes as HMRC faces heavy criticism over plans to allow it to raid bank accounts of people accused of avoiding taxes without permission from a judge. MPs have warned it violates the Magna Carta.

Lin Homer was accused of a “catastrophic leadership failure” when she was the head of UK Border Agency after it failed to improve far in five years.

MPs on the Home Affairs select committee said they were "astounded" she was appointed head of HMRC given UKBA's performance. Ms Homer said it was unfair to blame her for a vast backlog of immigration cases that was uncovered after she left office.